Reports out of Detroit are heating up that Maurice Cheeks, invited for a third interview, may be getting close to being named head coach of the Detroit Pistons.

Other reports indicate that now that the Indiana Pacers season is over, Brian Shaw is going to get a closer look from the Pistons. But the Detroit media is insisting Cheeks may be the one with Nate McMillan a close second.

If that’s the case, one has to wonder what Joe Dumars, team president, is thinking.

Actually, he is probably thinking the same thing he was thinking of the last three moves he made for the coaching position in the last three seasons. With Cheeks and McMillan, Dumars is going the recycling route with a coach rather than bring in a new face like Shaw.

Granted, recycling coaches have been working better for the Pistons in the past. Their most successful coach like Chuck Daly and Larry Brown, who skippered the team to NBA titles, were recycled coaches.

It appears that what the Pistons like about Cheeks is how he developed Russell Westbrook into a star player for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Regardless of what people say about a player developing his own talent, there’s plenty to say about coaches having an impact on a player’s development.

The Pistons figure Cheeks might be able to tap into the potential of players like Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight and make them more consistent players. If that’s the case, then Cheeks is the right guy. But at age 56, one wonders if he’s too much of a recycled coach to make a difference for Detroit.